Budgerigar

A parakeet is any of many small- to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple genera, that generally have long tail feathers. The name comes from the French word perroquet. About 115 species are seed-eating parrots of small size, slender build and long, tapering tails. In American English the word usually means the budgerigar, an Australian parakeet that is the most popular species kept as a pet in North America and Europe. Other groups include the grass parakeets of Australian grasslands, the ring-necked parakeet of Africa and Asia, and the conures of South America. Introduced monk parakeets live in New York City and Chicago.

About the budgerigar

The budgerigar, also called the common parakeet, shell parakeet, or budgie, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot native to Australia. It is the only member of its genus, Melopsittacus, and the only genus in the tribe Melopsittacini, and its closest relatives are the lories and fig parrots. George Shaw first described the species in 1805, and John Gould gave it its current scientific name in 1840. The origin of the word "budgerigar" is debated; it may derive from the Gamilaraay word gidjirrigaa, or from Australian English slang combining budgery or boojery, meaning "good," with gar, a reference to cockatoos. Alternate names include shell parrot, warbling grass parakeet, canary parrot, zebra parrot, and scallop parrot.

In its natural, wild-type coloring, the budgerigar is green and yellow with black, scalloped markings across the nape, back, and wings, and a yellow forehead and face in adults. It carries small iridescent blue-violet patches on the cheeks and a series of black spots across the throat, a cobalt tail with yellow flashes, and greenish-black flight feathers edged in yellow. Juveniles and chicks look alike regardless of sex, but adults can be told apart by the color of the cere, the fleshy area around the nostrils: males show lavender or baby blue, non-breeding females show pale brownish-white that turns brown when breeding, and immature birds of both sexes show pink. Wild budgerigars average 18 cm (7 in) in length, weigh 30 to 40 grams (1.1 to 1.4 oz), and have a wingspan of about 30 cm (12 in) — noticeably smaller than budgerigars bred in captivity, which have also been bred into a wide range of colors beyond the wild green-and-yellow, including blue, grey, white, and violet. Captive budgerigars fall into two basic color series, white-based (blue, grey, white) and yellow-based (green, grey-green, yellow), and breeders currently recognize at least 32 primary color mutations, which combine into hundreds of secondary mutations and varieties. Like most parrots, budgerigar plumage fluoresces under ultraviolet light, a trait tied to courtship and mate choice, and the birds have tetrachromatic color vision, meaning they perceive a wider range of color than humans do, though all four types of cone cell only operate together in sunlight or under a UV lamp. The throat spots that mark both sexes reflect UV light as well and can be used to tell individual birds apart.

Behavior and diet

Budgerigars are nomadic flock birds, and wild flocks move on from one site to the next as conditions change, sometimes swarming together in groups of thousands under favorable conditions, though they are more typically seen in small flocks. That movement tracks the availability of food and water, and drought can push flocks into more wooded or coastal habitat. The species feeds primarily on grass seeds, including the seeds of spinifex, and will opportunistically take ripening wheat or lawn grass seed as well; because seeds carry little water, budgerigars depend on access to fresh water.

Breeding in the wild generally runs from June to September in northern Australia and August to January in the south, though budgerigars are opportunistic breeders that respond to rain whenever grass seed becomes abundant. They are monogamous and breed in large colonies, showing affection to flockmates through preening and by feeding one another — including a habit of regurgitating seed into a mate's or chick's mouth. Nests are built in holes in trees, fence posts, or logs; a clutch of four to six eggs is incubated for 18 to 21 days, and chicks fledge about 30 days after hatching. Newly hatched chicks are altricial — blind, featherless, and entirely dependent on their mother, who feeds and warms them continuously. Their eyes open around 10 days, feathers appear by about three weeks, and young budgerigars typically fledge around five weeks old and are fully weaned between six and eight weeks; the oldest chick in a brood is generally weaned first, though a lone surviving chick, with its parents' full attention, is often weaned earliest of all.

Breeding is not without hazards. Chicks can die from disease or attacks by adult birds, females sometimes fight over nest boxes, and some chicks develop splay leg, a condition that can be congenital or caused by poor nutrition and is sometimes treatable with splints. There is also documented same-sex sexual behavior among male budgerigars; researchers once hypothesized this served as courtship practice for later breeding with females, but studies have since found an inverse relationship between males engaging in the behavior and their success pairing with a mate.

Budgerigars are widely regarded as the most popular pet bird species in the world and rank as the third most popular pet overall, after dogs and cats. They became especially popular as pets in the United States starting in the 1950s, when they overtook canaries as the most sought-after pet bird.

Range and habitat

The budgerigar is native to the drier parts of Australia, where it has persisted through harsh inland conditions for more than five million years, aided by its nomadic lifestyle and its ability to breed opportunistically while on the move. It lives in open habitats — chiefly scrublands, open woodlands, and grasslands — and shifts location as food and water availability changes across seasons.

Outside Australia, a population of feral budgerigars became established near St. Petersburg, Florida, and persisted there for more than 50 years before dying out in 2014; its decline is attributed largely to increased competition for nesting sites from European starlings and house sparrows.

Conservation status

The budgerigar is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, based on a 2018 BirdLife International assessment. The category means the wild species is not currently considered at risk of extinction across its range in the drier parts of Australia.

Its nomadic habits help it cope with a harsh, unpredictable climate: wild flocks move on as conditions change, and pairs breed opportunistically, responding to rains when grass seeds become most abundant.

Outside its native range, the budgerigar's record is mixed. A naturalized feral population near St. Petersburg, Florida, lasted more than 50 years before it declined from the 1980s, apparently because of competition for nest sites from European starlings and house sparrows, and it died out in 2014.